BBC One’s Tom Hiddleston/Hugh Laurie-starrer The Night Manager won big at the Royal Television Society’s Craft and Design Awards last night, taking three prizes for Costume Design (Signe Sejlund), Make-Up Design (Jenna Wrage) and Music (Victor Reyes). BBC mini War And Peace earned two prizes for Special Effects (Jens Doeldissen and Darius Cicenas), while George Steel won in the Photography race. Channel 4’s Olivia Colman-starring comedy Flowers won two awards for Editing (Selina MacArthur) and Original Music (Arthur Sharpe), with Stevie Herbert picking up the Production Design Award for her work on ITV’s The Durrells. Simon Bysshe, Nigel Squibbs, Jamie Caple and Jeremy Price were recognized in the Sound category for their work on Sky Atlantic’s The Tunnel: Sabotage. Additional projects that picked up awards included People Just Do Nothing, Murdered By My Father and Exodus: Our Journey To Europe.

Photo by Gianni Fiorito

In a recent interview with Cinecitta News, Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino said he has put his film project about media mogul turned politician Silvio Berlusconi on hold. “I thought about writing a screenplay for a project about Berlusconi, but it’s a complex story; we’re not always able to make the movies you would like.” In the meantime, the helmer said he’s writing the second season of The Young Pope, the Sky/HBO/Canal Plus series that has been a huge ratings winner in Italy and just concluded its run in France. It kicks off on January 15 in the U.S. Sorrentino told Cinecitta News, “I must say it amazed me and made me very happy to see how many young people are passionate about this series. TV today is central in the production and enjoyment of cinema. It’s useless to contest this truth with unnecessary forms of nostalgia… I am optimistic, the audience today is very capable of making his own choices.”

Photo by Ahn Young-joon/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Embattled South Korean president Park Geun-hye said she was willing to resign when her term ends, in a bid to fend off a possible impeachment vote. In a televised address to the nation, she offered to step down and asked the country’s parliament to devise a stable regime change plan. Park has been embroiled in a national corruption scandal that has riveted the country, involving her relationship with friend and secretive adviser Choi Soon-sil, who is believed to have meddled in state affairs and has been charged with extorting funds from top South Korean companies. In the media sphere, Park has been said to favor conservative, patriotic films and allegedly greenlit a number of nationalist projects such as such as Ode To My Father, a film from CJ Entertainment, in a bid to spark more South Korean patriotism. In October, the Busan Film Festival came under fire when organizers were ordered by Busan government chiefs to cancel a screening of The Truth Shall Not Sink, a documentary which criticized the government’s failed rescue measures at the 2014 Seoul ferry disaster. Busan mayor Suh Byung-soo is reportedly a key ally of Park.

Hans van Rijn has been appointed as General Manager at Fox Networks Group Nordics. Based in Copenhagen, he will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of the Nordic operations of FNG and National Geographic Partners. He’ll report to Adam Theiler, EVP of Fox Networks Group, Europe and Africa, who said: “The Nordic region is among the most sophisticated pay-tv markets in the world and sits in the vanguard of digital television. Hans van Rijn brings a wealth of local knowledge and relevant experience to our Nordics division.” Van Rijn, who joins from Discovery Networks International, will take up the new role at FNG in the New Year.